Can't send photos from iPhone that are in the cloud.

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Level 1

10 points

Can't send photos from iPhone that are in the cloud.

I have my photos optimized to automatically go into the cloud instead of being stored on my phone locally. This is fine until I need to send an image. I assume that the photo saves a lower resolution photo to the phone itself (or a thumbnail) and when I'm ready to send the full image, it will download from iCloud in order to be sent.

My issue is that when I select a photo from the photos app, share, and then whatever method I choose, I get the dialog box that says "Downloading..." and a white circle that should slowly fill up, but doesn't. I've tried on different Wifi networks, different locations on data, and certain photos just will not download from iCloud back onto my iPhone.

My original solution was to just save the photos onto my phone locally but I've already gone through and deleted about 1,000 and still don't have enough storage for them all, so I'm stuck not being able to send certain photos without taking a screenshot of said photo and sending it while it's still fresh on the phone. I currently have no way of sending live photos or videos.

Any help is appreciated, and thank you very much.

iPhone XS Max

Posted on Jun 17, 2020 8:10 PM

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Answer 1

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TheLittles

Level 10

192,651 points

Jun 17, 2020 8:46 PM in response to billquentin

billquentin Said:

"Can't send photos from iPhone that are in the cloud.: I have my photos optimized to automatically go into the cloud instead of being stored on my phone locally. This is fine until I need to send an image. [...]My original solution was to just save the photos onto my phone locally but I've already gone through and deleted about 1,000 and still don't have enough storage for them all"

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Upgrade iCloud Storage:

A typical HD image might be 2-4MB in size - and 1,000 MBs is 1GB. That means you'd have 2-4GB in size with just 1,000 Photos. You have 5GB Free. iCloud Storage. So with many, many more images, consider upgrading your iCloud storage plan.

So...

You might need to upgrade your storage plan. If that is the case, go here for your options on plans and prices:

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Answer 2

billquentin Author

Level 1

10 points

Jun 18, 2020 4:01 PM in response to TheLittles

I don't think my issue is lacking in iCloud storage as I have the 200gb plan, and have only sued a little over half of that storage. My issue is that the photos (already in the cloud) refuse to download back to my phone in order to send them through iMessage, Snapchat, whichever app I'm currently using. Essentially I go to my photos app > Share > Choose whichever app > and get this downloading pop-up. You can see it is trying to download, however I've left my phone sitting for over an hour trying to send this specific photo a couple weeks ago and it refuses. Along with this, if my screen goes off, the photo stops downloading so I've set it up to keep the screen on during this process and still no luck.

Is my only way around this to just purchase an iPhone with larger local storage? And if that's the case, why is iCloud even a thing?? And as mentioned in my previous post, this happens whether I am connected to WiFi or my Data (which is 5Ge in my current city)

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Can't send photos from iPhone that are in the cloud.

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